Sensitizing students to functional limitations in the elderly: an aging simulation.
OBJECTIVE
Using activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) as a focus, faculty at Eastern Virginia Medical School provide an aging simulation exercise for a mandatory fourth-year clerkship in geriatrics. The specific aims of the simulation are to 1) experience the physical frailties of aging, 2) develop creative problem-solving techniques, 3) identify feelings regarding the experience of functional loss, and 4) develop proactive clinical approaches to the care of the elderly.


METHODS
Students are assigned one of four diagnoses (Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, advanced diabetes, or stroke) and are then impaired to simulate the frailties of the condition, using a variety of clothes, bindings, and other devices. In their "impaired states," they perform ADLs and IADLs, such as paying bills, organizing their pills, shopping, toileting, dressing, and eating.


RESULTS
Evaluation results show the aging simulation to be the highest rated program in the clerkship. A pre- and post-course survey on attitudes toward the elderly showed a statistically significant improvement in students' attitudes toward the elderly following the course.


CONCLUSIONS
Simulation exercises in aging are useful activities for helping students better understand the feelings and needs of the elderly.
Lorraine
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V
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, USA. arl@fammed.evms.edu
Allen
S
S
Lockett
A
A
Rutledge
C M
CM
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000193:education*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016544:Patient Simulation; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D014768:Virginia